I do a lot of home renovation, mine and our kids. Here in Southern California, isvery difficult to find reliable constractors to do small jobs. I am doing a renovation that needs some drywall finish work. I had several bad experiences with sloppy job. Ilike to get the smoth finish. Can a non-contractor contact the union and hire someone?
Secondly, I like to remodel my kitchen and built a garage, I can do most of the labor, where do you go about hiring a kitchen designer or arquitect that can draw the plans, for the garage and kitchen without charging an arm and a leg.
The reason I do the work myself, is because I love to carpentry work,secondly, I don’t have the finantial resources to hire contruction companies. Any tips?
Any contacts in the Claremont California area?
Thank you guys/gals for the information you are willing to share.
Replies
You can't hire directly from the union hall yourself, but you can ask them who the contractors are that you could use, if any. Union shops are probably not interested in small remodels. You need to get some good references for reliable rockers--they are definitely out there, you just haven't found them yet.
Thanks David.
Wander over to a job site that looks active and ask them who they sub out the drywall to. Go to two to three other sites and you'll get a good idea of the reliable drywall companies are. Another way is to look in the phone book for drywall supplies that sell direct to contractors. Drop in and ask for the names of two or three top notch contractors.Do not, repeat, do not hire one or two guys yourself unless you know them and even then, think twice about doing it. If you hire someone in California and they hurt themselves while working on your house, you may not be covered with Workmen's Comp insurance. If your homeowners insurance doesn't cover WC then you are screwed twice and no happy ending in either one.
I second everything that woodway said, particularly his advice about going to a drywall supplier. A visit is much better than a phone call. Face to face works.
There are hundreds of small custom cabinet shops in Los Angeles. They're mostly pretty competitive. I can give you one name in the SF Valley but you'll probably make a better deal with someone closer. Call a couple of small shops, no big yellow page ad guys. If you know what you want that method should get you a fair price and fast service. Get a contract with a completion date.